CCF Recipient: UCLA Student Food Co-op

You can apply to be a recipient of the CCF fund, too! Download an application here, and submit it by October 6th. The selection will be announced at our Annual Meeting on October 15th.

Co+opportunity is excited to be investing part of our Cooperative Community Fund this year into the UCLA Student Food Collective! Two of its members, Jo Huang and Michelle Stevens, used it toward their attendance of CoFED's Summer Co-op Academy.

As Jo shared with us, "CoFED works with young people to build community-owned and controlled food systems that create health, wealth, and dignity for all. They are a national nonprofit, working with 40 college campuses across the country on projects such as student-owned grocery stores, worker-collective restaurants, and community-supported agriculture programs. Since starting in 2010, CoFED was named as one of the world’s top 5 ideas in sustainable food on Forbes, and received media attention from Civil Eats, GOOD Magazine, and The Atlantic."

UCLA Student Food Collective is, in Jo's words:

"Starting a student-owned, cooperatively run market & café that educates students about food systems, trains students to manage a sustainable business, and provides a warm, welcoming space where people can come to learn and be part of a community.

Our mission: provide fresh, delicious, sustainable food for the UCLA community, celebrate the artisic and cultural vibrancy of our campus, and bring people together."

Jo Huang is a third-year Neuroscience student. She has been been working in operations at the Student Food Collective for the Farmers Market-to-Students program, as well as organizing promotional events. Next year the SFC will move into a physical space on the UCLA campus and will launch a storefront. They will be increasing their food orders and collaborating with other food justice student groups. The SFC hopes to be able to begin accepting CalFresh (EBT) payment at their co-op and shape the space into an information hub for food security resources.

Jo was selected by CoFED to be in the 2017 cohort as a college food co-op leader. She and Michelle traveled to Knoxville, Tennessee to attend the Summer Co-op Academy at the Highlander Research and Education Center, July 24-30th. 

By attending the Summer Co-op Academy,  Jo's hoped "to meet other young co-op leaders from
across the country and exchange ideas on both the daily operations of college food co-ops and the role of co-ops in promoting a food culture around sharing, health and sustainability." We share her belief that "attending this Academy will also aid [her] in better understanding the relationship between policy and
community-owned food initiatives." 

We are proud of the passion and commitment Jo and Michelle display around furthering the mission of food co-ops, and look forward to futher collaborations between Co+opportunity, the UCLA Food Collective and CoFED!

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